The Perfect Gift
by amabilis999
Summary: Murky falls dangerously ill from accidentally ingesting some poison while plotting his newest scheme. Struggling to cope with the situation, Lurky tries to make the perfect get-well soon present for Murky (Based on the German Tapes and 1980 TV series cannon).


Hi everyone, I've recently finished working on fanfic that I would like to share. It uses some ideas from the German tape series, but since not everyone is familiar with this series, let me clarify some things. This story was inspired by episode 18 of the German Tapes series, when Murky was tricked into buying poisonous medicine in hopes of becoming invisible so he can cause trouble in Rainbow Land. This fic also mentions Lurky's brother, Besenbein (which roughly translates to Boomfoot in English), who appears in episode 14 of the German Tapes series. In the German tapes, Lurky respects but he is intimidated by his brother, because he's a devious and stand-offish wizard. However, in this story I wanted to show that Lurky still fondly remembers a time when Boomfoot was less devious.

Now that's out of the way, here's my story.

* * *

 **The Perfect Gift** **  
**  
"Looks like I'm done for now." Lurky patted his brown fur to get rid of the built-up dust. He looked around the room, taking note of his work. Lurky tried his hardest to make sure their home was as clean as it could be. "Hmm… what should I do now…? I know!" Then he pulled out a pack of cards from his fur and smiled. "Me and Murky can play cards!"

Lurky ran upstairs to Murky towards room and shouted "Murky, Murky, let's play a game! Let's play some cards!" Then he paused.

"Oh wait… Murky can't play cards….he's sick in bed."

Lurky remembered how scared he felt when Murky fainted from the poisonous medicine he bought from a mysterious vendor at the city. Murky hoped that he would become invisible so he could play pranks on the Colour Kids and eventually invade Rainbowland. However, this medicine did not make Murky invisible. Instead, he became very ill. A doctor visited Murky and Lurky's home to treat him, but Murky's condition was so severe, the doctor put Murky to sleep and asked Rainbow Brite and her friends to look for the antidote to cure Murky. While Rainbow Brite and her friends were looking for the antidote, the doctor recommended that Lurky do some house cleaning, because Murky would heal faster if the house was clean. Thus Lurky stayed behind and cleaned all the main rooms of their home.

Lurky frowned and walked slowly downstairs with his eyes downcast and his antennae drooping. Peering outside, all he could see were dead trees and gray skies. Usually, when Murky left Lurky alone, Lurky would secretly visit Rainbowland. During these visits, he would take his time enjoying the beautiful colours or playing with Puppy Brite. But he wouldn't do those things today. Lurky was not in the mood to see Puppy Brite or to take a peaceful walk. There was an aura of uncertainty about when or if Murky was going to get better. His health completely depended on whether or not Rainbow and her friends could find the antidote. And who knew when that would be? Murky could be asleep for days. Or even weeks. Only time would tell, and the more he thought about the situation the sadder he felt. He cried, just a little.

Then Lurky said to himself: _I guess I should get something to eat. Looking at the Pits isn't going to make me feel better, that's for sure._ In the kitchen, Lurky opened the fridge. He scratched his head and said:

"Hmm. Now… what should I eat?" As he scanned the fridge, he noticed a bowl and took it out. "I know these grapes. These are Murky's favourites…" Lurky returned the bowl back to where it belonged. "Maybe I should have some milk and cookies instead."

He brought the milk and chocolate chip cookies out onto the table and sat down. As he was eating the cookies, he started to wonder about what he should do while he waited for Rainbow's return.

"Poor Murky. I wish I could do something to help him feel better. But what? …I know! I'll make a present! I love presents and Murky loves them too! …I think…."

Lurky dropped a cookie into the milk and bit into it.  
"But…. Murky hates a lot of things…"

Then Lurky remembered the sour grapes that he pulled out a moment ago. He pounded his fist into his left hand and said, "That's it! I'm going to cook a sour grape cake! Oh boy, oh boy, he's sure going to love that!"

Lurky gathered all the ingredients for the cake and scattered them on the table, including the sour grapes.

"But wait… where's the cooking book? I know I put it somewhere I wouldn't forget." Lurky scratched his head trying to remember. Then Lurky looked at the fridge and noticed the corner of the cookbook hiding out from under it. "There it is. I'm so good a hiding stuff!" He bent down and stretched his stubby arms as far as he could. When he got the cookbook, Lurky lifted it as high as he could and said, "I got it Murky! Oh wait…Murky isn't here…" Lurky frowned and added "…Well I guess I better start working then."

He opened the book on the table and started to look for a recipe for the cake.  
"Okay. Let's see now… It says you need 2 cups of flour." Lurky picked up two drinking cups and filled them up with flour before pouring them into a bowl. "Then it says, put 1 cup of sugar…and umm... 1/4 cup of milk." He poured the ingredients into the same bowl. "That was easy. What's next… 6 egg whites?" Lurky didn't know what to do. Egg yolks are yellow, but what's an egg white? _If only Murky was awake; he would know what they were._ Then he said aloud, "Oh, I know, they're egg shells because egg shells are white!" Lurky cracked six eggs and put the eggs shells into the batter.

"There. Almost done. Now I just got to put in the sour grapes." Lurky poured the grapes into the bowl and mixed with all his strength. Bits of the batter splashed out, but, Lurky was so focused on his task that he didn't notice how much of a mess he was making. When he was done mixing, he put the mix into the stove for the cake to bake.

"Done! That wasn't so hard. I just hope that I was right about the egg whites."

Lurky crossed his arms and said to himself, "But what should I do now? It's going to take a while before this cake is ready." Then his eyes widened and he said, "Maybe I should give Murky another present! You can't have too many presents!" But what were other things other people gave to sick people..?" Lurky tapped his fingers against his chin while thinking.

"I got it! Flowers! I'll get Murky some flowers! That will make him extra better!"

As soon as Lurky thought up of his idea, he ran outside to get the Grunge Buggy so he could drive into Rainbow Land and pick some flowers. Before Lurky got into the driver's seat, he couldn't help but look towards the trashcan that was tied to the side of the Grunge Buggy. Lurky was so used to Murky sitting there whenever they drove. It wasn't often that Lurky would drive the Grunge Buggy without Murky's company. The Grunge Buggy felt empty without him.

Lurky shook his head and got into the driver seat. Lurky tried to drive as slowly and carefully as possible. Without Murky telling him what to do, Lurky had to make sure he wasn't driving the Grunge Buggy in a way that would damage it. Lurky was well aware that he was not the most careful driver around. The last thing he wanted to do was bust up the Grunge Buggy when Murky was too sick to help him fix it.

After some time, he finally made to flower fields of Rainbow Land.

"Whew! I made it." Lurky lifted his wrist towards his face, and thought for a moment. "I wish I had a watch, so I can know how long that took. Oh well, I better start looking for some pretty flowers."

Lurky walked across the fields, hoping to find just the right flowers. To Lurky, these flowers couldn't just be ordinary flowers; they had to be special. He scanned the flower fields to see what flowers would be good for Murky's get-well-soon gift. While he was looking, he could hear rustling sounds nearby. Lurky tried to ignore it at first, but the rustling sounds became louder. Lurky became scared and hid in the bushes. However, his curiosity got the better of him and he poked his head out. As he peered out, he saw four Sprites walking together. The Sprites where red, orange, yellow and indigo. It seems like they were going on some kind of picnic, as the orange Sprite was holding a basket. The Sprites sat down on the grass to set up their picnic. Lurky couldn't see all the food that had been set up, but as far as he could see, there were sandwiches, lemonade, cookies and a pie. They looked delicious. As soon as they were finished setting up the picnic, the Sprites started talking.

The Red Sprite stretched out their arms and said, "Ah, what a beautiful day. We couldn't have picked a better day to have a picnic. Am I right Dandelion?"

"Of course Ruby. Luckily for us, the mines are closed today. If they weren't, I would have had enough time to bake my famous, homemade Wild Berry Pie" said Dandelion.

Delicious is right, Lurky thought. He could smell the pie from the bushes. Lurky let out a sigh just thinking about how delicious the pie must be. _This picnic looks like a lot of fun. Maybe I should join them; they look really nice_.

"So, Ruby… why the mines were closed again?" said the indigo Sprite.

"Well, Orchid… I heard that someone got sick, so most of the Colour Kids went to find some kind of antidote. The situation must have been serious enough that their Favourite Sprites got a day off."

"That's weird. I wonder who got sick?" said Orchid.

"I don't know. It's probably someone important. It's not every day the Favourite Sprites get a day off. Or any Sprite for that matter."

"Maybe it's some colour kid that we haven't heard about yet?" said Dandelion

"Can we stop talking about sick people; it's making me lose my appetite," said the orange Sprite.

"I agree, Marigold. Let's go eat. I'm starving" said Dandelion.

Lurky thought to himself: _They must be talking about Murky… Oh that's right I almost forgot, better go pick some flowers! But…that picnic does look like a lot of fun…..I guess It wouldn't hurt to stop by just for a little bit…_ Lurky tried to get out of the bush so he could greet the Sprites, but Lurky stopped and paused when he heard Orchid speak.

"Are you guys ready for the upcoming Autumn Festival? Summer will be almost over soon."

Ruby smiled. "Oh yeah! Me, Marigold and Dandelion are going to work hard at the mines so we can be representatives this year"

Dandelion fiddled with her fingers. "I'm kind of nervous… it's my first year…what if I don't make the cut?"

"Don't worry, Dandelion. Marigold can teach you. He's the best miner out of all the Orange Sprites. Even if you don't make it, you can still enjoy the Autumn Festival. It's not like your mining skills are bad enough that you have to work overtime and miss it," said Ruby

Dandelion's mouth broke into a slight smile "Yeah, guess you have a point there."

Lurky looked away from the picnickers and sighed. "Oh….I guess they wouldn't want to eat with a clumsy Sprite like me". He left the bush with his head held low and his antennae drooping again, walking away from the picnicking Sprites. Before the Sprites were out of sight, he looked back at them. He could hear them laughing, but he could no longer make out what they were saying. After that, Lurky continued to walk further away from the group until he could no longer hear them.

Lurky looked at the beautiful field of flowers. The fields were peaceful, since Lurky was the only one standing on this side of the flower field. The fresh air and the calming atmosphere made him feel at ease. Lurky hadn't felt this happy in a long while. He was so at peace that he felt like he could just forget all about the Sprite's picnic.

"Wow, look at all these pretty flowers!" Lurky ran across the field without a care in a world. Then he suddenly tripped over his shoelaces and faceplanted on the ground. Lurky sat up and shook his head.

"Oh yeah, I gotta pick those flowers for Murky."

Lurky kneeled over and picked the most beautiful flower he could see, singing a song that he made up on the spot.

"Lurky's got some posies, violets, daises and rosies!"

He picked as much flowers has his hand could hold.

"And that's that."

Lurky walked back towards the Grunge Buggy. As Lurky was walking away from the flower fields, Lurky couldn't help but keep looking at how beautiful they were.

"Boy, Murky is going love these when he sees them." Then he paused, like he said something that wasn't right. He took second look at the flowers and suddenly Lurky's smile changed to a frown. "Would he?" Lurky thought about it. Whenever they drove around Rainbow Land to try out Murky's newest scheme, one of the first things Murky always complained about were the flowers. They made him sick -not "flu sick"- but sick nonetheless.

Lurky tossed the flowers up to the sky and said, "Oh no, I forgot. Murky hates flowers." Lurky lay down on the ground and looked up to the sky. "What I'm I going to do now?" He was exhausted. He went through all that trouble to get a gift that Murky wasn't going to like in the first place. It was times like these that Lurky wished he were less forgetful.

He closed his eyes and suddenly remembered the Sprite picnic. _Boy,_ _I bet they're having fun,_ Lurky thought to himself, _with all that lemonade, sandwiches and pie. Maybe they brought over some cake too._ Then Lurky's eyes widened.

"No oh, the cake…"

Lurky got up from the grass and ran towards the Grunge Buggy. He got into the driver seat and quickly drove back to the Pits. Unlike before, he didn't care about how careful his driving was. Lurky ran towards the entrance of the fort and opened the door with all his strength.

"Murky, I'm sorry I burned you! I won't accidently almost eat your sour grapes ever again!" He quickly looked back in to see if there a sign of fire. Fortunately he could not see any fire in front of him or any sign that a fire spread to Murky's room. However, Lurky noticed that black smoke was coming from the kitchen.

Lurky jolted into the kitchen and opened the stove door. Lurky coughed as a dark smoke came out from the stove and spread throughout the room. He put on some oven mitts, closed his eyes and reached his arms out to take the cake. As soon as Lurky took out the cake, he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was what looked like a charred, stiff brick. The cake barely resembled an actual cake, other than its square shape.

"Maybe it looks just looks bad from the outside…."

Lurky took a small bite of the burnt cake. He could feel his teeth crunch against the eggshells. He could only taste ashes and a mushy texture that he assumed was the sour grapes. The taste was so disgusting that he spit the cake out.

"Never mind, that tasted terrible…."

Lurky threw the rest of the cake into the trash. He wondered whether or not he should check on Murky.

Murky was supposed to be asleep for the rest of the day. With all the commotion, it was possible that Murky was awake. If that was the case, Lurky would have to call the doctor to put him to sleep again. The thought of telling the doctor about what happened made Lurky nervous, after all, almost burning the house down made him look clumsy and incompetent. Even though a lot of people knew Lurky was clumsy, the doctor trusted him with the task of looking after the house while Murky was sick. So this made Lurky feel uneasy.

But the worse of all, Murky could have been hurt from the fire. Granted, no smoke came into his room, but due to Murky's condition, Lurky didn't want to take any chances. Lurky nervously walked upstairs towards Murky's room.

"Murky, are you okay? You're not burning, are you?" He stopped in his tracks to hear if Murky gave an answer, but he heard none. He opened the door to Murky's room and said, "You're okay, right Murky?"

Lurky sighed in relief to see that there was no fire. Lurky tip toed towards Murky's bedside to take a closer look. As could see, Murky was asleep. He as looked paler than usual and was he breathing harshly. Lurky poked the left side of his cheek.

"Murky, are you okay?" he said quietly. Murky gave no response. The only thing Lurky could hear was Murky's deep breathing. The doctor must have given him some kind of powerful anesthesia for him to sleep through all that commotion. Lurky wouldn't be surprised if Murky could sleep though an earthquake.

"You keep sleeping, Murky. I got...umm…More stuff to do! See ya!"

Lurky crept out of Murky's room. Before he closed the door, he took another look at Murky. He hadn't moved since he entered the room. Lurky sighed and slowly closed the door.

As he slowly walked down the stairs, he couldn't get his mind off of how sick Murky looked. Lurky was well aware that Murky wasn't feeling well, but it wasn't until Lurky took a good look at him did Lurky realize how severe the poisoning was. Murky's condition only made Lurky feel worse about his failed attempts to make a get-well-soon gift.

Lurky opened the door to his room and lay on his bed, trying to think. After some time, he picked up the teddy bear that was on the bedside table.

"Geez, Mr. Fuzzles. Murky is so sick; I want to make something that will make him feel better. But every time I try to make a get-well-soon gift, I always mess up. First, I almost got a gift that Murky would hate. Then I burnt his cake. This is something that should be easy, but I guess I can't do anything right."

Lurky gave Mr. Fuzzles a big hug and suddenly, he felt better. Many memories of his early childhood came back to him, like his first horseback ride at the Flower Festival, and him facing his fear of rollercoasters for the first time at the Sprite Fair. (And learning to love them afterward.) But the most important memory of all was the time his brother Broomfoot passed down Mr. Fuzzles to him. Mr. Fuzzles reminded him how things that seemed scary often weren't so scary after all.

Then Lurky got an idea. He stopped hugging Mr. Fuzzles and took a good look at him.  
"That's it! I can give Mr. Fuzzles to Murky! He's good at making anyone feel better and he's not too colourful!" He was purple but it was a gloomy shade of purple. Surely Murky wouldn't mind.

Lurky got out of bed and rushed out of his room. He ran upstairs to the door of Murky's bedroom. Before Lurky opened the door, he stopped and glanced down at Mr. Fuzzles. He nodded at him and slowly opened the door.

When Lurky entered the room, he picked up the chair from Murky's work desk and placed at his bedside and sat down. Murky was just as pale as he was the last time he saw him. However, it seemed like Murky was in a deeper sleep than before. His breathing was quieter and slower. Even though he knew that Murky was too deep in sleep to understand what Lurky was saying, he wanted to say something to Murky. Thinking that Murky could somehow listen to him made Lurky feel better.

"Hi Murky. It's me again, and I got something for you," he said quietly. Murky said nothing, but Lurky continued. "This is my friend, Mr. Fuzzles. I had him with me for a long, long time. He used to be my brother's teddy bear. But he gave it to me so I wouldn't be afraid of the monsters under my bed. You know what my brother told me? He told me that when he was scared of something, he gave Mr. Fuzzles a hug and it made him feel better. With the help of Mr. Fuzzles, I wasn't scared of monsters under the bed or anything… I had him with me ever since."

He took one last look at Mr. Fuzzles and placed him close to Murky.

"But I'm giving him to you now, to help you feel better. Being sick like this must be scary. But maybe Mr. Fuzzles can make you feel better like how he made me and Boomfoot feel better." Lurky got up from the chair and walked towards the doorway before pausing.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you. You can keep him as long as you want." Then he slowly shut the door.

Lurky felt at ease for the rest of the day. He was no longer sad about the mistakes he made or the Sprite Picnic. He gave a gift that came from his heart and that kind of gift was truly the perfect gift.

* * *

 **Epilogue**

Murky slowly opened his eyes and sat up from his bed. He noticed Lurky was smiling right beside him. Even though Murky was only in a deep sleep for two days, to Lurky it felt like ages. The antidote that Rainbow Brite found had worked. Although Murky still felt a little weak, he was well enough to stand, walk, and talk.

"Hi Murky!" Lurky said. Murky shook his head and said,

"Ugh. What happened?"

"The doctor gave you the antidote. He said that you'd be back to your good old self by the end of the week."

"Ugh…What's this silly looking bear doing here!? Take it back!"

"But Murky…"

"No buts, Pumpkin Pie Breath. Take it away from me!"

"Oh…. Okay Murky…" Lurky's antennae drooped down and he took Mr. Fuzzles away from Murky.

Murky saw the sad expression on Lurky's face, but he tried not to notice. Thinking too much about it made Murky feel this strange, uncomfortable and confusing feeling, which he hated.

Murky leaped out of the bed and said,

"Come on; let's go to my secret laboratory. I have a new scheme that I want to try out!"

"But Murky, you're still sick. You should rest first!"

"If I'm well enough to walk, I'm well enough to scheme. Come on, Eggplant Nose. Rainbow Land isn't going to take over itself!"

"But Murky," Lurky ran in front of Murky causing Murky to bump into him and fall backwards.

"Oh, watch it, Peanut Brittle Brain. I could have broken my back!"

"Sorry Murky, but I don't think it's a good idea to take over Rainbow Land right now."

"Of course it is. I can take over Rainbow Land whenever I want too."

"But Murky, Rainbow Brite saved your life. She was the one who brought the antidote to the doctor. You owe your life to her."

Murky looked up to Lurky with the most distressed look that he ever saw on Murky's face.

"Lurky…"

"What's up, Murky?"

"I give me that bear. I think I'm getting sick again…."


End file.
